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Big chain restaurants in Ontario will be forced to post calories and additional nutritional information on their menus and menu boards under legislation the province plans to introduce this winter, Health Minister Deb Matthews says.

The move is aimed at tackling childhood obesity by making it easier for parents and children to opt for healthy choices, she told a news conference Wednesday at a McDonald’s restaurant in the Eaton Centre.

“I don’t think there is any question that people’s choices will be impacted by the inclusion of calories on the menu board. I think we sometimes trick ourselves into thinking we are making a healthy choice when we are not,” Matthews said.

The province has yet to identify exactly which restaurants will be targeted. Matthews would say only that they’d be large chains and not “mom and pop” establishments.

Questions about who the legislation will apply to and what other nutritional information will be posted on menus will be addressed during consultations with the food industry and health-care sector, which the government is about to embark on, the minister said.

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Matthews said her government is also going to start consultations on the issue of reducing the marketing to children of unhealthy foods and beverages.

The province has long been under pressure to force menu labelling in restaurants. Since 2008, the provincial New Democrats have introduced three private member’s bills on the issue.

And public health units across Ontario, led by Toronto Public Health, have also advocated for the idea. Toronto’s chief medical officer of health Dr. David McKeown earlier this year said the city should pursue such an initiative on its own if the province won’t act.

The province’s own Healthy Kids expert panel advised the government in March to impose calorie disclosure.

But the restaurant industry opposes mandatory menu labelling.

“I have not seen evidence that calorie-count features on menus change behaviour,” said Tony Elenis, president of the Ontario Restaurant, Hotel and Motel Association.

He questioned the need for legislation, noting many Ontario restaurant chains already voluntarily participate in an industry initiative to make nutritional information available.

Still, Elenis said he’d take the provincial plan over individual municipal plans, arguing they would have resulted in a “disarray of models.”

Garth Whyte, president of the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association, charged that Ontario is “out of step with other provinces” like British Columbia and Alberta, which have adopted a voluntary “Informed Dining” program.

Under this program, participating restaurants provide nutritional information on websites, brochures, posters or separate menus, but not their main menus. The Informed Dining logo appears on main menus to alert customers that additional information is available.

McDonald’s vice-president Richard Ellis welcomed Matthew’s announcement, noting the chain’s U.S. restaurants have been posting calorie counts for about a year, in advance of being required to do so by federal legislation.

President Barack Obama’s 2010 health-care law will soon force U.S. chains with more than 20 restaurants to post calorie counts.

In 2008, New York City began requiring chains with more than 15 restaurants to post caloric information.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, public health studies are starting to show that menu labelling can help consumers make healthier choices.

For example, a study by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation earlier this year found that Seattle consumers ate 143 fewer calories when in restaurants with calorie counts posted on menu boards.

But other studies have shown conflicting results. For example, a 2011 study by New York University found the posting of calories does not alter food choices.

Mark Holland, director of health promotion at the Heart and Stroke Foundation, praised Matthews’ announcement, saying it will empower busy Ontarians to make informed decisions when presented with numerous food choices.

The obesity rate has tripled in the last thirty years, Holland said, adding that it is having a “devastating impact” on health and “crushing” impact on the cost of treating related disease.

NDP MPP and health critic France Gélinas (Nickel Belt) said she is thrilled with the pending legislation, but added that she plans to lobby for sodium content to be included in menu labelling because “so many people are on sodium diets.”

Pointing out that more than half of adults and one-third of children are overweight or obese, OMA president Dr. Scott Wooder said the measure will be helpful to busy families. They know what ingredients they put into their meals at home, “but that’s not always clear at restaurants,” he said.

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